By Erik Harris, sports editor
MOUNTAIN BROOK — It was a hard-fought effort, but the No. 7-ranked Pinson Valley boys soccer team saw its season come to an end on Tuesday night in the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.
Fresh off a 10-goal outing in the first round last Thursday, the Indians were unable to create that level of offense in a 6-0 road loss to second-ranked Mountain Brook. Pinson Valley wraps up its season with an Area 12 championship and a 15-8-2 record.
The Spartans (19-3) will collide with top-ranked Homewood in the quarterfinals later this week after the Patriots beat Clay-Chalkville 11-1 on Monday night. To get there, Mountain Brook punched through a pair of early-first half goals and poured on four more in the second half to bag its 19th win of the season, including a pair of postseason wins.
The Spartans beat Gardendale 4-0 in their playoff opener last week and have yet to surrender a playoff goal.
Pinson Valley senior Pedro Hernandez defends the goal during a second-round playoff match at Mountain Brook on April 27, 2021.
Photo by Erik Harris
It took Mountain Brook about 12 minutes to get on the board as sophomore Jack Heaps got behind the defense and beat Pinson Valley keeper Pedro Hernandez for a 1-0 lead. Heaps was followed closely by senior Patrick Neil, who dribbled in close and fired left of Hernandez for a 2-0 advantage with 25:59 remaining in the first half.
The host Spartans later took that lead into the break.
Junior Andrew Thomason started up the second half with his only goal with 26:35 remaining. Junior Joseph Armstrong capitalized on a penalty kick shortly thereafter to stretch the Mountain Brook lead to 4-0, and sophomore Howie Eldridge ended the scoring with a pair of makes down the stretch.
In other boys playoff action, 12th-ranked Leeds fell to Crossville 6-3 in the second round of the Class 4A/5A bracket. That loss ends the Greenwave’s season at 15-8-1.
